Hindus Erect Large Worship Tents for Durga Puja Festival

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KOLKATA (30 September 2003) -

By India Correspondent Atul Jolly

 

Every year, Indians living in West Bengal wait eagerly for the

arrival of the October Durga Puja festival.

 

Among the attractions are the large worship tents set up to house

elaborate statues of the Hindu deity, Durga. One of them, a unique

tent made of tin, is pulling in the crowds.

 

In the cultural capital of India's Kolkata, the artists have gone

all out with their innovative creations to celebrate Durga Puja.

 

To attract visitors, the tents compete in beauty to be the talk of

the town. Gone are the days when these worship tents, or Pandals as

they are widely known, were made solely of bamboo rods and cloth.

 

Kolkatans can now witness many new kinds of Pandals for the Durga

Puja.

 

There are Pandals made of clay pots and mirrors. One Pandal even

depicts the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New

York. But the show stealer this year is the Pandal made entirely of

tin cans.

 

"The tin industry is getting extinct. Plastic era has begun. So

through this, we can employ several people in the production stage.

We can try to save the (tin) industry," said Tapan Sarkar,

Secretary, Adivasi Brinda Club.

 

The Pandal, made by members of cultural club Adibasi Brinda Club, is

based on the theme of "Krishna Leela" or the story of the Hindu god

Krishna.

 

Various episodes of his colorful life are depicted in the metallic

panels of the Pandal.

 

"We got a sheet of aluminum and we etched the pictures onto it. It

took one and a half months for the work," said artisan Bikram

Mallick.

 

They spent some US$14,000 to build their invention, and had to call

in more than 50 artisans just to put the seven million tin cans

together.

 

The pandal is made by joining the tins with a special kind of gum

made from heated plastic. Even if it rains during the festivities,

the tins in the structure will remain intact.

 

Source: Channel News Asia

2003 MCN International Pte Ltd

URL:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southasia/view/50231/1/.html